Why Subaru Is Applauding VW Now Before The New Outback Arrives
The Volkswagen Golf SportWagen and Golf Alltrack have been the Subaru Outback’s main competition but that will change soon. A recent report from Automotive News says Volkswagen will end production of the Golf SportWagen and Golf Alltrack wagons at the end of 2019, leaving the newly-remodeled 2020 Subaru Outback model change with virtually no competition.
The report says Volkswagen has seen slow sales of the Golf SportWagen and Golf Alltrack AWD because SUV sales are booming. It’s why they will drop the two wagons at the end of the year. But the same competitive SUV/Crossover market hasn’t hurt Outback sales as it’s the number one selling nameplate in the Subaru all-wheel-drive stable.
2020 Subaru Outback
Through the first six months of the year, Volkswagen reported it sold just 5,123 SportWagens and Alltracks combined in the U.S., down 36 percent from the previous year. In contrast, Subaru of America delivered 93,711 Outback models to customers in the first 6 months of 2019, up 3.0 percent from a year ago. SOA delivered 17,505 Outback models in June alone, making it the best month ever for the SUV-alternative Outback.
In another report, Motor Trend says Ford could be bringing their own Subaru Outback fighter. Torque News reported this a year ago, as Bloomberg reported in July 2018 that anonymous sources within Ford Motor Company claimed the Fusion would live on as a “sport wagon” fashioned as a Subaru Outback competitor.
Ford Fusion Wagon
Until now, the only competition has been from Volkswagen with their SportWagon and Golf Alltrack AWD. Honda tried with the strange-looking Crosstour but it never caught on. If Ford brings a new Fusion Wagon and tries to replicate the success of the Subaru Outback, they will need the right product and not the model pictured here. It looks like the Buick Regal TourX, with the looks of a European sports tourer that sits too low to the ground to compete with the “go-anywhere” attitude of the Outback.
The newly remodeled 2020 Subaru Outback makes its dealer launch in September and with the decision by VW to drop the Golf SportWagen and Golf Alltrack wagons at the end of 2019, Subaru Corp is applauding because it leaves the SUV-alternative Outback with no competition.
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Photo credit: Subaru USA, Motor Trend